photo by Gerald Figal, with "instant box camera," 2023
EMILY PASSINO
A Nashville photographer, soaking up inspiration from generous photographers in this community and around the world.
Broadly, my current projects might be termed “social landscapes.” Like classic street photography, these are unstaged, candid images that capture seemingly ordinary scenes. I'm interested in what the photographs reveal about life today, and how this may or may not differ across time, place, or experience. As a bonus, this practice also helps ground me in the here and now.
Most of my work is digital but I am also returning to film and the darkroom, which is more of a stretch than I would have expected. I learned about photography from my dad, who was generous with his darkroom as well as passing along his wisdom.
I am active with several photography groups, and continue to take classes and workshops, to seek out museums and galleries, and to experiment with different approaches.
exhibits:
2024
'Holiday Salon Show,' Galerie Tangerine
Open Theme, Gordon JCC Gallery, Nashville, TN
'Nearby,' Athens of the South Art Walk, Villager Tavern, Nashville, TN
‘LP Canvas: Vinyl Art in Music City,’ Chauvet Arts, Nashville, TN
Open Theme, Untitled Artist Group, Ligon Drive Pop-Up Space, Nashville, TN
2023
‘Holiday Salon Show,’ Galerie Tangerine
Black & White Spider Awards, Nominated Architectural Award
‘Day in the Life,’ Sister Cities Nashville project with Magdeburg Germany, with exhibits in Magdeburg city hall and library, as well as in Nashville’s Centennial Park and Hotel Preston Gallery
2022
Open Theme, Gordon JCC Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Beyond the Familiar,’ Laskey Gallery, Nashville, TN/ Hotel Preston Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Art of the South,’ Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2021
‘2020:The Year That Was,’ Chromatics 2nd Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Contemporary Photographers Look at the South,’ Hotel Preston Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Art of Healing,’ Art from W.H.O to Act for Health, Curb Center, Nashville, TN (through 2022)
Open Theme, Gordon JCC Gallery, Nashville, TN
2020
‘Nashville Now,’ Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Portals & Passageways,’ Scarritt Bennet Gallery, Nashville, TN
Open Theme, Gordon JCC Gallery, Nashville, TN
2019
‘Connect/Disconnect, ‘Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN
‘Sense of Connection,’ Hotel Preston Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘The Photograph Celebrated,’ Nashville State Community College Gallery H, Nashville, TN
‘TrueNash: Nashville Streets,’ Lexus Gallery, Nashville, TN
2018
‘Motion/Movement, ‘Lexus Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Elements – Earth, Air, Wind and Fire,’ Chromatics 2nd Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘Sense of Place,’ Hotel Preston Gallery, Nashville, TN
‘World of Dreamers,’ Chromatics 2nd Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN
2017
‘Night,’ Provence Bakery, Nashville, TN
‘Work’, Provence Bakery, Nashville, TN
‘Perspectives,’ Gordon JCC, Nashville, TN
‘Nasty Women’, Basement East Gallery | Luperca. Nashville, TN
2016
Open Theme, Gordon JCC, Nashville, TN
‘Patterns,’ Provence Bakery, Nashville, TN
‘Street Photography’, Provence Bakery, Nashville, TN
in print:
Contributor, 'The Survey Issue,' Winter 2024, Close to Home Photography Magazine, Issue #3
Contributor, 'The Home Issue', Summer 2022, Close to Home Photography Magazine, Issue #2
SHOTS Magazine, Winter 2022, Issue no. 154, 'Earthly Delights'
Contributor, LOT, 'The Parking Lot & Gas Station Issue,' Winter 2021, Close to Home Photography Magazine, Issue #1
Contributor, 'Sappho Versioning Sappho', Sarah Passino, 2020, Stereoverseeditions, Brooklyn, NY.
'Connect/Disconnect: Growth in the “It” City,' Shaun Giles, ed., Frist Art Museum and Vanderbilt University Press, 2019
Annual Photo Contest, Nashville SCENE, Nov 14-20, 2019, Vol.38, Number 41
Contributor, TENNESSEE BLUE BOOK, 2019-2020, Secretary of State, State of Tennessee
Contributor, ‘Explore Rural Tennessee,’ photo journal published by TN Department of General Services
With The Blue Hour Photo Collaborative:
'The Pictorial List: Volume One - New York.' Spurbuchverlag, 2024.
SHOTS Magazine, Winter 2024, Issue no. 156, ‘Moving Pictures’
‘Call and Response,’ Project Feature and Interview with The Pictorial List (March 2023)
'When My Other Normal isn't Normal,’ Traveling Exhibit sponsored by Ella Briggs Boyer Endowment for Central DuPage Counseling Center, Wheaton, Illinois, 2022
SHOTS Magazine, Spring 2022, Issue no. 155, ‘Portfolio|Collaborations
presentations:
'Building a Personal Photo Project,' Presentation to the St. Albert Photo Club, Alberta, Canada, October, 2022
'Who Do We Think We Are?,' Guided reflections responding to photographs that explore questions around earth and spirituality, April (earth day), 2021
key group memberships and collaborations
Close to Home International Photography Salon led by photographer and educator, James Maher (2020 to present – small group moderator)
The Blue Hour Collaborative (2021 to present), founding member
Society of Nashville Artistic Photographers (2012 to present -past president)
education:
Ph.D, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Ph.D, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Industrial-Organizational Psychology
selected photography classes/workshops:
Visual Communications, Nashville State Community College, (2017-ongoing. Notably, classes with Beth Trabue Gorham and Emily Naff);
Douglas Beasley, Photography as a Path to Spirit (2022), Zen and the Art of Photography (2021);
David duChemin, Shoot What It Feels Like (2024); Beyond the Shutter (2022);
Michael Rubin, Photographic Haiku (2022);
James Maher & Matt Weber, NYC Street Photography (2019);
Rich Seiling print workshops, Watkins as well as online (2019, 2022);
PhotoVoices, London, Participatory Photography (2018);
Byron Jorjorian, Big South Fork, Off the Beaten Path (2017; .